Daily Archives: December 15, 2010

It’s pretty amazing how much Owen changes from day to day. I know I’ve been saying it for 4 1/2 months, but it never ceases to amaze me how all of a sudden, one day, he’ll learn how to do something new. And from then on, he can do it. Like rolling over, which he does immediately when I put him down on his stomach now (still only rolling from tummy to back, and still only in one direction, but it’s so immediate now that it makes me laugh every time), or sleeping through the night (7pm – 6:30am, which he’s done for the last three nights!). Today I noticed he purposefully picked up a toy that had previously been too heavy for him to lift and brought it all the way to his mouth to suck on it. His fine motor skills are becoming so much more refined every single day.

You know something else that has developed in the last few days? A relationship with Schnitzel. Schnitzel, our 85 lb labradoodle, has been by Owen’s side since the day we brought him home. Sometimes whining to be taken for a walk, sometimes bringing us toys to toss for him while we play with Owen, often running to the nursery door when he hears Owen crying, and always giving him licks and sniffs. But only in the last day or so has Owen responded. It’s like a switch was flipped, and now all of a sudden Owen seems to think Schnitzel is the coolest thing since sliced bread. And since he hasn’t had sliced bread yet, he just may think Schnitzel is the coolest thing EVER. Owen breaks out into a huge smile when Schnitzel comes in the room, and opens his mouth and closes his eyes in bliss when Schnitzel licks his face. (I’m quickly learning to stop wiping the dog spit off of his face — it’s a futile mission and some exposure to germs is probably good for my little guy!)

Today during our morning playtime, Owen and I were sitting on the floor practicing sitting and standing and playing with some toys. Schnitzel came right over, plopped himself down next to us and played too. He let Owen sit next to him and pat his fur (and give him a few good grabs) and then he licked him all over. He nuzzled Owen’s head as they lay side by side, and then brought his tennis ball and dropped it right at Owen’s feet for him to toss back. Owen was totally entertained and kept cooing happily. It was so sweet I just about melted.

From the day we got Schnitzel I knew he would be an awesome “brother” for our baby, whenever he or she arrived. And now that I can see the bond between Owen and Schnitzel starting to grow, it’s pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I’m sure it will get even stronger when Owen starts eating food that can fall on the floor for Schnitzel to clean up 🙂

I know this post would have been a lot more fun with pictures, but alas, when I’m home alone I barely have enough hands to play with the dog and the baby at the same time, let alone hold a camera. My resident photographer comes home today (yay!) so I’ll try to capture their playtime soon.